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Phumzile van Damme took to Twitter to express her dismay.
DA MP Phumzile Van Damme arrives on the red carpet outside Parliament for the 2020 State of the Nation Address. Image: Kayleen Morgan / EWN
CAPE TOWN – Democratic Alliance (DA) national spokesperson Natasha Mazzone said Saturday that whether MP Phumzile van Damme agreed or not, the decision to take a three-month sabbatical was made because of her illness. debilitating.
Van Damme took to Twitter to express his dismay.
I have been informed by the Federal Leader of the DA @jsteenhuisen granting me a sabbatical year. I did not request it. It just informed me. I could walk away, but I choose to stay and challenge him ABOVE THE BEGINNING.
– Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) December 4, 2020
She insisted that she could still work, adding that she was not consulted and that she would challenge the decision.
Eyewitness News spoke to Mazzone on Saturday, who said the decision had been made and that the district attorney’s leader, John Steenhuisen, believed Van Damme needed to take some downtime to make a full recovery.
He said the party was doing this for its own good.
“John Steenhuisen did speak to her in the morning, but her continued poor health is well known and well documented, and part of leadership is knowing when someone in her caucus or party is hurting. He will be able to continue coming to Parliament with great pleasure, but as the shadow Cabinet is at the moment, he is not a member of the shadow Cabinet. ”
Van Damme insisted that his poor health has not prevented him from doing his job.
But Mazzone disagreed: “If Phumzile decides not to take a sabbatical, it is his choice, but the offer was made. It is still the recommendation of John Steenhuisen and me that he take the three-month sabbatical, but if he chooses not doing so will be your choice. “
Van Damme intends to challenge the decision.
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